Mick Schumacher leaves family ‘emotional’ after podium tribute

Mick Schumacher left close friends of his father “emotional” in his breakthrough podium celebration that was eerily familiar.

Formula 1 legend Ross Brawn said it was “emotional” seeing Mick Schumacher win his maiden F2 race and believes the Ferrari junior is “on the right road” in his career.

Brawn is a close friend of the Schumacher family having worked alongside seven-time champion Michael during the German’s career with Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes.

And watching on as the second-generation of Schumacher won for the first time in F1’s leading feeder series in Hungary on Monday morning (AEST), Brawn said plenty of family memories came flooding back to him.

“I wasn’t at the track, but it was an emotional moment seeing him raise his arms to the sky, and I can’t deny that it reminded me of his father, Michael,” said Brawn, F1’s managing director of motorsport, in his post-Hungary debrief.

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“Mick had to fight for the win and avoid making mistakes as he was harried all race long by Nobuharu Matsushita. The victory comes after a rather unlucky first part of the year and this will give him more confidence in his own abilities.”

Like father.

With the 20-year-old Schumacher inevitably drawing wider interest than most at a junior stage of his career, Brawn added: “The younger Schumacher’s efforts have captured the imagination of media all around the world and show how much the Schumacher name still means and how much attention it can generate.

“Mick still needs to be allowed to progress calmly in order to see where he fits in this competitive world of talented youngsters, but [Sunday’s] win was an important moment: there’s a long way to go, but he’s on the right road.”

Like son.

The 20-year-old’s maiden F2 victory came at the 16th attempt, having previously achieved a best finish of fourth in Austria in June. Schumacher started on pole after finishing eighth in the previous day’s Feature Race, with that finishing order reversed to form the starting grid for the Sprint Race.

Schumacher is a member of Ferrari’s driver academy and tested their F1 car for the first time in Bahrain in April. Although an immediate step up to the top level looks unlikely for 2020 at this stage, the German youngster says he is prepared to be patient.

F1 is going to have to get used to this sight.

“Only time will tell [about F1 next year],” said Schumacher, last year’s European F3 champion.

“Obviously having the first victory in F2 is a great thing but I need to work a lot on myself.

Whether I make it to F1 in one year, two or even three years, I don’t know. But I will do my best to try and learn as much as possible.”